More than 200 participate in ‘Seniors Give Thanks’ campaign

SINGAPORE – Wheelchair-bound after suffering a stroke 10 years ago, Mr Phillip Oh, 65, could not venture out on his own to visit the doctor or buy groceries.

But that changed when Mr Patrick Loh came into the picture. What began as him delivering food to Mr Oh’s rental flat every fortnight as part of his volunteer work with voluntary welfare organisation Willing Hearts, turned into a steady friendship.

Mr Loh, 64, now helps to take him to his medical appointments and shopping trips to the supermarket.

“He’s very caring. He’s an angel,” said Mr Oh. “I’d like to thank him for all he’s done for me… until today he’s still helping me, he’s a very good man.”

The pair were at a “Seniors Give Thanks” event on Sunday (Oct 1), as part of International Day of Older Persons celebrations, which has been coordinated by the National Council of Social Service since 2014, and organised by RSVP Singapore this year.

About 200 participants, including seniors from senior activity centres across the island, attended the event, held at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar. As part of the celebrations, seniors were also given the chance to thank their loved ones through simple acts of gratitude, as well as Thank You cards.

More than 25,000 cards were given to 68 agencies, including social service organisations.

Senior Minister of State for Health and guest-of-honour at the event, Dr Amy Khor, said that the campaign “highlights the importance of each one of us playing a role to build a loving and supportive community that embraces our seniors”.

She also noted that with Singapore’s ageing population, the Government has put in place several initiatives to encourage active ageing. For example, the National Silver Academy set up last year has expanded to providing more than 900 courses – up from 500 last year – ranging from IT and media to art and wellness, with more than 21,000 learning places this year.

Also, a S$40 million fund to promote senior volunteerism has funded 15 volunteer programmes and created more than 6,500 opportunities for seniors to volunteer under the National Silver Volunteerism Movement.

Speaking to reporters, she added that there is now a lot more awareness at the ground level about living actively and healthily.

“As we roll out the initiatives and as there may be gaps, we will then look at other programmes that we can implement, or refine or enhance the programmes,” Dr Khor said.